UN migration agency chief sees budget cuts worsening in 2026

By Emma Farge

GENEVA (Reuters) - The U.N. migration agency chief told countries on Tuesday to expect even bigger programme cuts in 2026 after announcing a record budget drop of nearly 30% this year, as U.S.-funded programmes end and other donors retrench.

The International Organization for Migration had already announced a major scale-back in projects after U.S. President Donald Trump's foreign aid cuts, warning that it would affect thousands of staff and have a severe impact on migrants.

The IOM's American Director-General Amy Pope said there would be a projected fall in its budget from $4 billion to $2.89 billion.

This is already affecting efforts to help refugee resettlement programmes and work in Colombia, the Democratic Republic of Congo and with Rohingya refugees.

"(2026) is where we anticipate seeing the biggest impact on budget – not of course just because of the United States but we have heard from many of our donors that you anticipate additional cuts to your humanitarian and development financing," Pope said at a meeting in Geneva.

The U.S., which accounts for over 40% of IOM funding, said this month that 80% of programmes at the U.S. Agency for International Development had been cancelled.

Pope said the IOM was still getting updates from Washington on the impacts but warned that even contracts approved by the U.S. government could expire later this year.

She added that the Geneva-based organisation estimates that 7,000 jobs will be affected -- up slightly from its previous estimate of 6,000 -- but some staff may be re-hired.

Pope was a White House adviser to U.S. President Joe Biden, raising questions about how she and the institution would fare under his successor Trump.

That issue was not addressed at the meeting but several countries urged Pope to lobby Washington to reverse the funding cuts.

(Reporting by Emma Farge, editing by Ed Osmond)